Touching Moment When An Orangutan Meets a Burn Victim At The Zoo

Sometimes a video just tickles you right in the feels. More often than not videos like that involve animals, sick or injured people or incredible interactions.

This video has all three.

Back in 2015, Darci Miller suffered severe burns to a freaking huge portion of her body. Her face, chest, shoulder and arms were badly hurt by the injury and her recovery has been a long and slow process with many ups and downs along the way.

We’ve all heard how horrible the healing process can be when you’ve got bad burns, and like you, I wouldn’t wish that kind of thing on anyone.

“I feel your pain, human. I feel your pain.” (Credit: Newsflare)

The mental strain alone must be bloody huge.

So when Darci shared a touching moment with the star of the Indianapolis Zoo’s Orangutan Exhibit, you can imagine how bloody good she felt.

Show me that one there, will ya? (Credit: Newsflare)

Rocky, one of the resident orangutans there is well known for his big bloody brain and his ability to communicate with people.

He was a key part of the study that showed orangutans have developed vocalization patterns that far exceeded our previous knowledge – and when Darci came, he showed that he’s got empathy too! Shit, I know people who haven’t got the slightest idea what that is.

Rocky can actually mirror the pitch and tone of human sounds and produce vowels. (Credit: Mirror)

When Darci approached his enclosure, the clever little monkey – all right, the great ape – started gesturing at his shoulder to indicate he had noticed something different about Darci’s.

As Darci’s partner, who filmed the whole thing, pointed out, Rocky wanted to see her burns. The sheer look of dismay on his face as he inspected Darci’s healing wounds spoke volumes and the two shared a real moment.

Afterwards, Darci said, “The orangutan was completely interested in my burn scars and recent surgery sights . . . I am a burn survivor from 2015, it has been up and down but this particular day made me feel really good about myself.”

How good is this moment. Seriously, have a look at the video below and tell me it’s not just a little bit special.